Funks

I'm in this funky little rhythm where things are happening too fast and too slow all at once.

I want fall to show up already, but I feel awful wishing the last bits of summer away. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, but I want everything I do -- dog walks, for example -- to last longer.

I'm enjoying the poke-along pace of the improv log cabin blocks in the baby quilt I'm working on, but in my head (and on random scraps of paper throughout the house) I'm building a list of projects I want to start.

I get through 1.5 baby quilt blocks a night. I get one together, stick it up on the wall, start on the next one.

Halfway through the next one, after sewing machine-cutting table round trips that take me by the design wall 16 times, I decide I don't like the block I just finished.

So I push it off to the side, my designated blocks-for-the-quilt-back-or-a-pillow-or-something area. Then I decide I'm too tired to sew anything I like and head to bed.

By morning, I have fonder feelings toward all the blocks.

Figures.

Today I wanted to do something else, start to finish. And I did.





It's a case for my sunglasses.



I used scraps from the baby quilt and some Essex Linen I had on-hand.

I sure do like that stuff. The heavier weight is wonderful (like Japanese fabric). You get the look of linen without all the fuss. And you get solids with some nice texture.

For this project, I used my sunglasses to make a freezer paper template and then built a basic lined pouch. I was going to sew Velcro to the top for the closure, but I couldn't find any. Oh well. I think I'll add a button and loop tonight. That way my closure will be quiet. Shhh.

I needed a project like this: one hour, no second-guessing. I like being comfortable enough with my sewing skills that I can build something small without the silly screw-ups that make it an all-afternoon affair.

I had a few Goodwill finds today, but I think T might steal one of them for his wardrobe. In all fairness, I offered it up. I'll post photos... as soon as I take them.

Time to roll over into the weekend.

Been busy

We've been jamming as much summer as possible into August. So far it's been swell. Fairs, fishing, blues fests, etc.

Same on the sewing front.

We swung by Lowe's on Friday and for $21 ($15 if all of our hammers weren't in the basement of our Butte house for some reason) got the supplies I needed to build something I've been daydreaming about since seeing them all over when my mom and I had our Montana road trip in June.


It's a loom to weave fabric scraps into rugs! And Chowder isn't nearly as excited as I am.

It's 2 by 4 feet and has a bazillion nails. I hammered them all.

Here's a basic diagram of how it went together.



I bought two 8-foot long boards (I think they were 2 by 2 inches) and had a guy cut them into 2- and 4-foot segments. I used 1.5-inch roofing nails, but if I did it again I'd use smaller once because my boards started to split ever so slightly when I drove in the nails. Maybe it's just because I'm so strong. I placed a nail every inch and did that before screwing the board ends together.



I also raided the Goodwill pile and came up with lots of shirts and pants.


Formerly known as a pair of trousers. I cut off a leg, hemmed the top and added elastic at the bottom.



Last night I was restless with my baby quilt blocks. I'll explain why in a few paragraphs.

So I took a break, wandered back to the Goodwill stack and made my first quartered log cabin blocks based on this quilt from, again, the Block Party book.


Three sleeves from mens dress shirts.

I also got a laundry quarter pouch from the cuff.


Just zig-zag up each side.

Wheh.

So, back to that baby quilt. I showed someone the block photos last night and they loved them, but said the colors leaned toward the boy end of the spectrum. Urgh. I hate when that happens. I hadn't been second-guessing myself on the gender-neutrality thing up until that point. I love these blocks and I think it'd be good for a baby girl to have a little blue in her life.

I mean, I'm a girl, and today I'm wearing a blue shirt.

But more green and yellow couldn't hurt. So I picked up some greens and yellows from MoMo's It's a Hoot line. Just a quarter yard of four prints, so only $9.50.

I had a big realization on Monday after seeing my three blocks on the design wall all weekend. That's one advantage to having it right in the middle of our living space.

One of these things is not like the other. Can you which?


I'm not sure if I'm getting the terms right here, because I've seen them used different ways, but the blocks on the sides are courthouse steps blocks (if you ignore the color rules) and the center one is a traditional log cabin block.



With all the different colors and prints, the traditional block seems too busy. So for this quilt, I'll stick with all courthouse steps.

Some of those steps will be modified a bit to keep it wonky. Like that one on the right has two sides added on before the top and bottom.

So I'll be back at it tonight, with lots more greens and yellows.

Two blocks down...

... no idea how many to go. Ether nine or 16, depending on how big I want the quilt to be. I'd like it to be 16 because I like sewing them, but that would make for one huge baby quilt.


Block No. 1 on the left, No. 2 on the right.

I wanted to make my first block the most simple one, and the second the most complicated. That way I can work between these two for the rest of the project. This is a baby quilt, so it can be fun and busy, but I don't want it to be too busy. I think simple blocks will help keep it calm.

Improvisational sewing suits me. Probably because it's less organized. Instead of cutting a specific number of strips from one fabric and on and on, you just pick your fabric and cut as you go. I'm doing free-hand rotary cutting on this.


If a fabric is on the table, it's fair game.



I'm trimming the blocks to a 10.5-inch square. Right now, the plan is to border each block in 1 inch of white and then put the blocks together with 4-inch grey sashing. That's why I think I'll only need nine blocks. That's too bad.

But maybe I can squeeze more in on the back.

Bound up

The Seattle quilt is done!

Done!

Done!

Done!

LOOK!


Front

To clarify: It's not MY late. It belongs to someone else.


Back


Hand-sewn binding!


Quilting detail (that corner is on the back of the quilt)


Back detail.

This was my first time hand-binding a quilt (thanks, mom, for the tutorial!). I prefer how it looks compared to machine binding and think I'll stick with it.

It didn't take anywhere near as long as I thought it would. The quilt is 50 by 50 inches and I spent about 3 hours sewing the binding on.

Now all I have to do is wash and send it off to its new home!

Abundance

One of my co-workers is having a baby, so I get to make a baby quilt!

I've been doing some fabric selection by committee, asking everyone in sight (and a few far away) what they like.

This is the first time I've had a stash large enough to pull from for a project. A real abundance. And I think I'll be able to piece the blocks almost entirely from what I have on-hand.

I started with this:



And then this:



And now I'm down to this:


(The Xs are going away)

I think I'll add a yellow solid too.

The plan is a wonky log-cabin style block with largish strips. The elephants and birds will be the block centers.

To keep it neat-looking, I want to use a neutral sashing between blocks. I'm thinking Essex linen, which I've never used before. But the heavier weight might be nice for a baby quilt that will be washed lots.

Thoughts? Is it gender-neutral enough? Too boyish? I think the extra yellow will help.

On other fronts, I'm just about halfway done with the hand-binding on the Seattle quilt. I want to mail it by Friday.


(Ignore that stray dog hair. That's why you wash quilts before sending them)

And Tom and Chowder are, as usual, living the life.

Procrastination central

The good part about putting projects off is that you often get something else done during the stretch of avoidance.

That just happened here.



A sewing machine cover! From this wonderful book, Fresh Quilting. It's the first quilting book I bought, and this is the first time I made something from it.

Now the fella can get all tucked in at night.




Hanging out on the new(old) rack.


The back.

Here's some of the process:





I promise I'll start the binding for the Seattle quilt tonight. Really. REALLY.

But, for now, here's a photo of Mr. Farmer. Our garden plot is AMAZING!

Eat it

Right now there are no fewer than 45 ideas and plans rolling around in my head. That might sound fun, but I've got actual stuff to do, and these little schemes are distracting me. I need to just eat it and get what I need to do over with.

It's also cool enough (just barely. BARELY) to run at night, so that's eating into sewing time. But quilting's feeling shouldn't be hurt, because I love running with Tom more than all other things. Really. Everyone should get to take at least one run in their life with a dog that makes this face.


He's SO happy.

So anyway. The biggest thing I'm not doing is binding this quilt. I have the binding strip half made, but I keep stalling out. I think it's because I'm intimidated by the hand-binding I have planned. Bah. Maybe I'll just machine it. Or I'll hand-bind it. And since that will take forever, what's the loss in putting it off a few more days?

I also have to sort photos from vacation and upload them to Flickr.

O! Looking at Flickr just reminded me that I have an actual quilt finish to share! A hand-bound quilt. It's wall-hanging size, but whatever. The backstory of it is here, near the end.

Please excuse the just-awful iPhone photos. I forgot to photograph this sucker until we were walking out the door to Boise. Actually walking out. Like my-real-camera-was-in-the-car-so-I-had-to-borrow-my-boyfriend's-phone degree of walking out the door.





It didn't start as a small quilt, but it ended that way after a night of me trying to quilt the damn thing and also pack for the trip to Oregon that started the next morning. A night that started at 1 a.m., when I got off work, and ended at 5 a.m. when we left for Oregon.

Things just weren't working out, and around 3 a.m. I made two decisions. One, I would make the quilt tiny and just finish the damn thing in a half-hour and two, I wouldn't try to sleep before we left. Both decisions turned out awesome, because I finished the quilting AND I ended up sleeping almost all the way to Portland. I'm awful at sitting in the car, so anytime I can sleep away a 16-hour roadtrip is a win in my book.

Anyway, this is how big it the quilt was over my dinner break the evening before we left.



Oh well.